Meta Ads Manager – The most important in a nutshell |
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The social media networks Facebook and Instagram are actively used by many millions of people every day. This also includes many companies that place advertisements on the platforms. Brands and products receive an enormous amount of attention due to the countless users. On Facebook and Instagram, companies can reach any target group they want and thus engage in successful marketing. With the Meta Ads Manager (formerly Facebook Ads Manager), customized ads can be created, placed and managed. The comprehensive tool can seem a bit intimidating at first glance. However, this post will provide you with detailed instructions on how to create successful ads on Facebook and Instagram.
The Meta Ads Manager is used to create and manage ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. The tool is a complete solution for creating successful ads. With the Meta Ads Manager, ads can be adjusted to specific target groups and played out in a targeted manner. In the tool, you can both define where and when to run ads, and control how well your marketing goals are achieved with the help of the campaign. The meta ad manager can be operated via the web and via the app for iOS and Android. This allows you to create, run and monitor campaigns at any time and from any location. The tool offers various setting options and is thus perfect for controlling professional advertising campaigns.
Placing ads through the Meta Ads Manager comes with several advantages. In addition to the huge target audience you can reach with your ads, you have the possibility to constantly adjust and optimize your ads. You can flexibly play out ads and also get useful data about your target audience, which is used to measure success. Due to the diversity of people who are active on Facebook every day, companies from any industry can benefit from advertising on Facebook. Ads on the platform can be particularly effective in the following areas:
To use the free meta ad manager, you need a business account. This can be created via the Ads Manager or directly in the Facebook profile via the “Create” button at the top right and is divided into four different areas:
Meta Ad Manager Account Overview
These areas and their respective functions allow you to create and manage campaigns on Facebook and Instagram, as well as measure campaign results. In addition, you can organize your campaigns using various filters in the Ads Manager and search for keywords. If you want to manage your ad campaigns as a team, you have the option to assign a role to each person under “Ad account settings”. The following areas are available to users of the Meta Ads Manager with their respective functions:
The account overview summarizes all activities within an advertising account. This includes the post spent on you as well as the reach, impressions and clicks.
Campaigns can be created and managed on the campaign level of the ad manager. Here you can define, for example, the booking type as well as the goal of the campaign. The following functions are included in this level:
At the ad group level, you set the budget for the ads, although this can also be set at the campaign level. However, at this level you also set the target audience, placements as well as playout options. Additionally, you have the following options:
The ad level is where the ad or sponsored post is set. The following options are available:
You should run ads through your Facebook company page. For this, open the meta ads manager and you can directly start creating your ad campaign. If you don’t have a Facebook company page yet, you can easily create one.
Open the meta ad manager and select the “Campaigns” tab. Then go to “Create” to create a new ad campaign. You should now select the campaign objective based on your business goals for this ad. Therefore you have the option to choose from various marketing goals based on what you want to achieve with your ads:
The meta ad manager offers you specific ways to define a target audience for your ad based on Facebook’s countless user data. In the settings for the ad, the desired target group can be defined very precisely, which is why you should have already thought about who you want to reach with the ad in advance. Therefore, when defining the target group for the ad, you should have asked yourself the following questions beforehand:
Of course, this does not yet allow you to create a holistic marketing concept, but these are important considerations for defining target groups. In the meta ad manager, you have the option of selecting target groups with whom you have already come into contact, or people who are similar to such customers. Additionally, demographic data, such as age and gender, as well as psychographic characteristics, such as needs and buying behavior, can be specified.
Once you have defined the target audience, the next step is to select where you want to place your ad. Here you have the option to choose between manual or automatic placement. You will receive various suggestions for ad placements, which are based on the previously selected campaign goal. Possible placements for your ad are as follows:
For placing ads, it is necessary to specify an exact budget as well as the desired time period of the ad campaign playout. You have the choice to set the cost as a daily budget or total runtime budget.
Generally, there are two different payment models. Either the costs are calculated per CPV (Cost per View) or CPC (Cost per Click). Both variants have advantages and disadvantages, but in most cases it is advisable to charge per click. With this option, costs are only incurred if a user actually clicks on one of your ads.
This step is about designing your ad. First of all, choose the format in which you want the ad to be displayed to the user. The format should be customized in terms of content and volume. Here you should ask yourself the following questions:
You have the possibility to choose from these formats:
Depending on the format, certain images and texts are better or worse suited. Especially with text, make sure to keep it short and possibly include a call-to-action that encourages the reader to want to learn more about the product or service.
In the last step of creating the ad, it is important to check all entries again for correctness so that it can be published as desired. After all information has been checked, Meta checks the ad you have placed for compliance with the guidelines. If any guidelines have not been met, you will receive a notification. In addition, in this step you have the option to select your preferred payment method with which you would like to pay for the ads.
Results of ad campaigns in the Ad Manager
With the Meta Ads Manager, you have various options to view results of your campaigns or individual ads. To do this, all you have to do is select them and then click on “View charts”. You can now choose from various diagrams:
If you want to know how your ad performs compared to your other ads, you can get an overview of this on your account overview. Additionally, the meta ad manager allows you to create and save reports that can be shared with selected people as a CSV or Microsoft Excel file.
Social media users respond to ads by liking and commenting on them. Therefore, in social media marketing, community management should not be neglected, as your community represents potential customers. The ad with the comments can be found in the tab of the ad group via the associated ad. The ad must first be highlighted and then accessed via the “Edit” field.
Reply to comments in the meta ad manager
At the top right of the ad preview, there is a small gray button with an arrow. If you now click on “View Post”, the ad will load including the comments, so you can now respond to them.
Before you create an ad, you should think about how the ad campaign should be structured. That is, a goal should be defined so that the right playout can be chosen. In addition, you should have defined your target audience and already saved it under Target Groups. Advertising texts and creatives should also be prepared in advance. On social media channels, advertising is placed according to interests and, unlike Google, advertising on Facebook and the like is a form of push marketing. This means that users are first made aware of products that might suit them.
If you are planning a campaign with several target groups and different ads, it makes sense to create a template with an ad group and associated ads in advance. This template can then be easily duplicated for additional ads, saving you from having to re-enter all the settings. However, this template should of course be deactivated so that it is not published.
In addition, if you want to get more reach and interaction with a post, you can use already posted posts as ads. To do this, instead of creating a new ad, simply select “use existing post” in the creation process.
This way, you’ll already get interactions on posts, even if they haven’t been published yet. The interactions remain, so the planned post can already be published with likes and comments.
To schedule posts in advance, you should use Creator Studio or the Facebook Page post options. However, you can also play ads as organic posts. To do this, you need to go to “Page Posts” in the meta ad manager and select the right ad account. Here you can now view all the ads and select the one you want. On the top right, you will find the “Actions” button, which you can then use to schedule the ad as an organic post or post it directly.
It can happen that an ad account is locked. Then this can no longer be edited. If this is the case, support can be contacted in the ad manager via the question mark at the bottom left. Your message will automatically refer to the ad account you are currently in. Support will usually respond to your inquiry via email.
In most cases, however, you will already receive reasons in the advertising account itself as to why the account was blocked. You should first investigate these indications before contacting support.
Monthly updates are no longer published automatically. To ensure that you are always up to date, you need to view the updates directly in the Ads Manager. To do this, first open the meta ad manager, select the question mark in the top right corner, then scroll down and select Ad Manager Updates.
Achieving success with an ad campaign on Facebook requires a certain amount of effort. It is necessary to ensure that a connection can be made with the desired target group. It is important to research and get to know your target audience better beforehand so that you can figure out what type of ads will work best. With the right creation and playout of ads on Facebook, considerable results can be achieved, contributing to the growth of your business.
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